Bundesliga was split into a northern and a southern division with 20 clubs each. Each division had its champion directly promoted to the Bundesliga while the two runners-up would contest a two-leg play-off to determine the third promoted team.

The bottom four clubs in each league were relegated, however, as the number of clubs relegated from the Bundesliga to each division could vary, so could the number of clubs in the league and therefore the number of teams relegated.

The first-ever game of the league was played on Friday, 2 August between 1. The play-offs for the third Bundesliga spot were contested by FK Pirmasens and Bayer Uerdingen , with Uerdingen winning 6—0 at home after a four-all draw in the first leg.

The second season saw league championships for Tennis Borussia Berlin and 1. The contest for the third promotion spot pitted two far bigger names of German football against each other, with Borussia Dortmund edging out 1.

The northern division incidentally set the second best mark when it scored 51 goals the day before. In —77 the league champions were FC St.

Pauli and VfB Stuttgart while the third promotion spot went to Munich , having had to play a third game after Arminia Bielefeld and TSV each won their home games 4—0, with the decider ending 2—0 in favour of the southern team.

Third place went to 1. In —79 direct promotion went to Munich and Bayer Leverkusen while the play-off was won, once more, by Bayer Uerdingen, which defeated SpVgg Bayreuth 2—1 at home after a draw away.

In the north, two clubs were relegated from the league for financial reasons, Westfalia Herne , which had finished fifth and former Bundesliga side FC St.

Pauli, which had come sixth. Bundesliga record when it defeated Arminia Hannover 11—0 in May , the biggest-ever win in the league. The —81 season, the seventh of the league, was also its last in this format.

From it played as a single division of 20 teams after a decision taken on 7 June , when, at a special convention of the DFB , the introduction of the single division 2.

Bundesliga was decided upon with a majority of 84 votes to Bremen won the league while Braunschweig came second. Hertha missed out despite scoring goals.

In the south, the league was won by SV Darmstadt 98 for a second time while runners-up Kickers Offenbach lost out to Braunschweig in the play-offs.

The reduction of the league to a single division meant 22 teams were relegated while no team was promoted to the 2. The new single division league of 20 teams saw only a small change in modus.

The top two in the league were promoted while the third placed team played the sixteenth placed Bundesliga side in a home-and-away play-off for one more spot in the Bundesliga.

The bottom four in the league were relegated. The inaugural season saw FC Schalke 04 compete in the 2. Bundesliga for the first time, and win it.

Fourth place went to Munich, one point behind Offenbach, but the club found itself relegated after the DFB refused it a licence for the following season.

This decision kept 17th placed SG Wattenscheid 09 , the best-placed team on a relegation rank, in the league. Bayer Uerdingen, in third place, won promotion through the play-offs for a third time, this time overcoming the previous seasons 2.

Bundesliga champions FC Schalke Schalke bounced back immediately, coming second behind Karlsruher SC in — At the other end, Rot-Weiss Essen, after having failed to win promotion to the Bundesliga through the play-offs twice from the 2.

Bundesliga, was relegated to amateur football that season. Bundesliga for the first time in , with Hannover 96 coming second. Kickers Offenbach, freshly relegated from the Bundesliga came only 19th in the 2.

Bundesliga, suffered another relegation, as did another former Bundesliga side, FC St. Pauli, having returned to the league for the first time after having had its licence revoked in The league champions were FC 08 Homburg , also promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time.

Arguably one of the most famous play-off contests in 2. Bundesliga play-offs at the time. In the relegation zone MSV Duisburg followed the two Berlin clubs into amateur football as a third former Bundesliga side that season.

Pauli, freshly promoted from amateur football again, missed out by a goal in the play-offs against FC Homburg. At the bottom end Eintracht Braunschweig became another former Bundesliga side and champion to drop into the third division.

Pauli ended a ten-year wait for Bundesliga return in when it finished runners-up to Stuttgarter Kickers who were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time.

Third placed SV Darmstadt 98 missed out on penalties in the deciding third game against SV Waldhof Mannheim after each side had won their home game by a goal.

SpVgg Bayreuth finished 17th again but was again spared from relegation when Kickers Offenbach was refused a licence.

Also relegated were Union Solingen after 14 consecutive seasons in the league. Bundesliga football after games for Alemannia Aachen in the league from to , a record for any player with a single club in the league.

Bundesliga title, followed up by SG Wattenscheid 09, who entered the Bundesliga for the first time. In the relegation zone SpVgg Bayreuth failed to get reprieved for a third consecutive season and dropped into amateur football, as did Alemannia Aachen , a founding member of the 2.

Bundesliga who had played all 16 seasons of the league until then. The tenth season of the single division 2. Bundesliga was to be the last in its current format for a time as the German reunion in lead to changes to the league after this season.

Pauli three times to earn promotion, the first two contests having ended 1—1 while Stuttgart won the third 3—1. FC Schweinfurt 05 in last place became one of the worst clubs in the league history when it only won two games all season.

In the —92 season, the league was expanded to 24 teams in two regional divisions, north and south, to accommodate six new East German clubs which joined the league that season.

The East German clubs were spread very uneven, with one going to the north and five to the south, caused by the geographic location of those clubs.

Only the league champions were promoted to the Bundesliga that year, which were Bayer Uerdingen in the north and 1. The bottom three in each division were relegated, three of which were from former East Germany.

Bundesliga after their licence was revoked in At the end of this season the league returned to the single division format, but with still 24 clubs as its strength.

The —93 season was a momentous one, with 24 teams competing in a single league and each club playing 46 games. Three clubs were promoted directly, as would be the case from then on until , with the play-offs having been abolished.

SC Freiburg won the league and promotion for the first time. Seven clubs were relegated from the league to reduce its strength to 20 clubs again from the following season.

Promoted were VfL Bochum, Bayer Uerdingen and Munich, which had just won promotion from the third division the year before and returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since At the bottom end, five clubs were relegated, four of those former Bundesliga sides and the fifth one, Carl Zeiss Jena , from former East Germany.

The league level below the 2. Bundesliga was changed profoundly in with the Oberligas replaced by the new Regionalligas, which allowed for direct promotion to the 2.

Bundesliga for the first time since The league itself was now reduced to 18 clubs with no play-offs, three promoted and four relegated teams, a system it would maintain until , when the play-offs were re-introduced.

Hansa Rostock won the 2. Bundesliga for the first time in and FC St. The later, despite finishing seventh, had its licence revoked, thereby sparing FSV Zwickau from relegation.

The —96 season saw VfL Bochum win the league again with second placed Arminia Bielefeld winning promotion straight after having been promoted from the Regionalliga the year before.

FC Kaiserslautern and Eintracht Frankfurt had suffered their first-ever relegation from the Bundesliga in The former won the league and bounced back immediately while Frankfurt remained at this level for another season.

Kaiserslautern would also become the first and only club to win the Bundesliga as a freshly promoted side the following year. At the bottom end VfB Leipzig was one of three clubs from the east to be relegated, alongside SV Meppen , which dropped out of the league after eleven consecutive seasons there.

The —99 season saw the 1. In —01, the league was won by 1. Pauli was the third promoted team. SSV Ulm , freshly relegated from the Bundesliga, finished the season in 16th place and became insolvent.

FSV Mainz 05 was a newcomer to the Bundesliga. In second place Alemannia Aachen returned to the Bundesliga for the first time since Relegated that year were Dynamo Dresden , former East German power house, after a two-year stint in the league.

Landgraf had played a record 2. The —09 season saw the return of play-offs. The third placed team in the 2. Bundesliga now played the 16th placed team in the Bundesliga for a spot in that league.

At the other end of the table, the 16th placed 2. Bundesliga side would now also play the third placed team in the new 3. Liga , which had replaced the Regionalliga as the third division.

SC Freiburg and 1. FSV Mainz 05 were directly promoted that season while 1. Bundesliga place to SC Paderborn from the 3. FC Kaiserslautern ended a four-year spell in the 2.

Bundesliga in with a league championship, with FC St. The FC Augsburg finished third but was unable to overcome 1.

Hansa Rostock, in 16th place, dropped out of the 2. Bundesliga when it lost both play-off games to Ingolstadt After 15 consecutive seasons in the 2.

Karlsruher SC failed to remain in the 2. Bundesliga when it was relegated on away goal rule after two drawn games against Jahn Regensburg.

Bundesliga seasons —19 in European second tier association football leagues Current association football seasons. CS1 German-language sources de.

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